Let's try this again
by fakeyourdecaf
Summary: Alex has decided to stay in London after the events in Cairo and is trying again at having a normal life. Kyle is his new 'house-mate' assigned by MI6 who have halfheartedly promised to leave Alex alone. But when have they ever kept their promises?
1. Let's try this again

**/I do not own Alex Rider. Never have never will yadayadayada/**

Tumblr beckoned, flashing at him from his laptop in the corner of his desk. But Alex knew he had to finish this assignment first. Why he had ever thought that taking History was a good idea, he would never know but now he found himself furiously making up a load of crap about how Galen affected medicine in the middle ages.

It didn't help that he had literally no classmates who were willing to share their class notes other than Tom, but Alex knew that Tom's mind tended to...wander a bit during class. Most of his notes were small drawings of syringes and other gory bit and piece, both of which made Alex slightly queasy. He abandoned Tom's notes. E-mailing Miss Kullet was his only other option and perhaps she would take pity on the 'poor boy with the weak-as-shit immune system'. That reminded him...It was nearly 9:30 pm. Oops...He was meant to take his pills an hour ago.

Sighing, Alex dragged himself from his desk and into his bathroom. He reached up into the cupboard behind his bathroom mirror and withdrew four packs of medication. He hated taking these pills; it was like accepting that something was wrong with him, but they weren't for anything serious. Two of the pills were painkillers, one was to help him sleep (he would take that later otherwise he'd fall asleep on his essay) and the last one was for the annoying cold he'd picked up somewhere between London and Cairo. Even with the cold there was no way in hell Alex was going to let himself miss anymore school than he had already. It was going to be his first day back after what seemed like years and he wasn't going to skip **again** just because of some sniffles.

A glass of water and a grimace later, Alex was nicely drugged up and ready to continue with his 2000 word essay. As he sat down a quiet, low creak came from the stairs outside his room. Alex stiffened and waited for another sound to emanate from the corridor. But suddenly he remembered who was also in the house.

"Hey Alex! I'm going out for a bit, dunno when I'll be back so don't wait up for me- I know you're cramming so I left some pizza in the kitchen if you get hungry. Text if you need anything!" Some more creaking. Alex could hear some keys unlocking the front door.

"'Kay. Thanks Kyle!" Alex yelled back, probably too loudly, down the stairs. The door slammed. It had always needed a little extra force to close it. And then he was alone. There's always something a bit strange about knowing the house is completely empty except for you. You could walk around naked and no one would care. Alex smiled and unlocked his bedroom door.

Kyle was his new 'house mate' as he liked to call it. He had probably been sent by MI6 to make sure he didn't turn into a depressed vegetable (and also because he was a minor and technically wasn't allowed to live alone). Before deciding to stay in London, the plan **had** been to send Alex to San Francisco to start a new life with the Pleasures, but Alex was both paranoid and sentimental. He didn't want to intrude and interrupt their family life more than he already had or potentially put them in danger. At the same time, he couldn't bring himself to leave the only place he felt safe, with or without Jack. So he stayed in London.

It had only been about four weeks since Alex had come home from Cairo but everything felt almost normal again. Almost. Of course it would never be the same without Jack. Alex had promised himself that he wouldn't cry over her again. She wouldn't have wanted that, so now Alex lived his life as normally as he could, never forgetting her, but never purposefully thinking of her. Only a few pictures of her remained in the house. At first, Kyle had tried to make Alex 'talk about his feelings' but soon realized the futility. To be honest, Alex was still numb. He still hadn't come to terms with what had happened so Kyle had thankfully dropped the now tabooed subject.

Alex liked Kyle. He was pretty normal and easy going for an MI6 operative and Alex trusted him. Not in the same way he had trusted Jack or trusted Tom and Sabina, but there was a mutual respect between them and Alex felt he could be himself around him.

Alex didn't know much about Kyle. He was tall and well traveled. His slight accent indicated that he may have lived in Italy for some time although he looked Spanish. He was pretty well built-he often went to the gym- and he was a formidable Halo opponent.

Being in his mid twenties, Kyle left the house early in the morning to go to his job somewhere in central London. He hadn't told Alex what he did but Alex guessed that it was only a cover job for whilst he wasn't in the field.

Something was bugging Alex as he made hi way into the kitchen. Perhaps it was how easily he had slipped back into normal life. Maybe it was how quiet MI6 had been this past month (even though they had promised to leave him alone, Alex knew better now). Or maybe is was just the slight ache of his never quite healed bullet scar. Alex made a mental note to remember to take his medication on time as he grabbed a plate from the cupboard and loaded three pieces of pizza onto it to take back to his room.

Despite being back on familiar territory, Alex could never quite shake off this feeling of anxiety that was constantly gnawing away at his stomach. He could never stop the nervous tapping that he knew would drive everyone nuts at school. He could never- Ugh. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about these sorts of things. Alex angrily pulled at his jumper sleeve, not sure what he was trying to achieve with that action. He suddenly stood up, straight like he would have back a Brecon Beacons, and clapped his hands together dramatically. It was now 10:15 pm. If he wanted to get some decent sleep before school tomorrow, he had two hours to finish his god forsaken essay and a bunch of maths exercises. Sometimes he wondered if the school actually acknowledged the fact that he had missed over half the year. Probably not.


	2. Sleep is fun

Gunshots. Blood. Suddenly Alex found himself unable to move, restricted by unseen bonds. Unseen because he couldn't see. A blindfold was pressing down on his face, damp and cold. Alex tested the bonds for any slack or weakness in them but this only helped to tighten them around his wrists, causing a slight trickle of blood to run down his hand.

He could hear muffled voices shouting but they were too far away to make out what they were saying. A drop of water landed on the blindfold and then realized that it was in fact not a blindfold but a towel. His chest constricted and panic began to rise in his throat as he realized what was going to happen next. He thrashed wildly, trying to shake the towel from his face like he had before, but he couldn't get it off. It was like it was being held there by some invisible force. Then he couldn't breathe. He was slowly suffocating. His ears started ringing and his bullet wound was throbbing painfully. Red spots appeared in the darkness (were his eyes open or closed?) as the voices from earlier drew closer.

Someone gripped his shoulder and Alex lashed out. Wait, his hands were free? His hand connected with something and he was pushed back. When did I sit up?

"Alex..." Have MI6 actually come to help for once? Alex thought, still unable to see.

"Alex." He continued to lash out with his fists at whoever it was, but his movements were sluggish and the panic from earlier was still rising. He was hyperventilating and suddenly he could see again. There was a dark figure at the foot of his bed. Without thinking, Alex launched himself at the figure. He managed to get a few good hits in before his leg gave out beneath him. He crashed into the side of his bed, fell to the floor and curled up. His breathing was still erratic and his vision was blurry.

"Alex..." A voice came from the other side of the room but it sounded worried. Slowly, Alex uncurled and poked his head up to look over the bed. There was Kyle, looking slightly disheveled in his pj's. He ran a hand through his light, brownish hair and gave Alex a look half filled with worry and half with annoyance. Alex could see why. There was a small cut on his lip and there would probably be bruise on the side of his face in the morning. It was still dark outside, probably around 4 am.

Shakily, Alex found his voice. "Heh...Sorry about that." His stomach was churning and he felt sick. The shaking hadn't subsided and Alex made the bad decision to stand up. All at once he could feel the blood rush from his face, heart rate begin to speed up again and bile rising in his throat. Quickly weighing his options, Alex decided that he would rather pass out in the bathroom having been sick in the toilet than be sick in his room and still pass out.

Alex made a mad dash towards the door, almost breaking off the handle as he opened it. Luckily he found his target in time before his dinner so kindly decided to make a reappearance. Surprisingly, he didn't pass out and so he just sat there feeling like shit, until he heard the door creak open and Kyle shuffled in. Alex gave him a weak smile to let him know that everything was alright now. Sighing, Kyle slid down to sit next to Alex on the floor and patted him awkwardly on the arm.

"Crap. Kyle, I'm sorry about your face. I know it meant a lot to you." Things like this had happened before, but Alex had never hit Kyle. Not for the first time, he cursed MI6. Kyle cracked a smile.

"Don't worry about it. It's only a scratch. I'm more worried about you." Alex ground his teeth. He didn't like it when people worried about him when there was nothing wrong.

"Look, it was just a dream. I didn't mean to hit you. It just happened."

"Yeah, and I know why." Kyle held out his hand and Alex groaned.

"Why am I so stupid?"Alex asked no one in particular.

"School."

Alex snorted. Pushing himself up from the floor, he grabbed the pill he had forgotten to take and dry-swallowed it.

"Do you want to come downstairs for a bit whilst it kicks in?" Kyle suggested. Alex gratefully accepted. He was still a bit shaken up and nervous and was glad for the company.

The kitchen was brightly lit and warm, in stark contrast to the winter rain storm raging outside the house. In silence, Kyle made both of them some weak tea then sat down opposite Alex on the table. He watched as the boy slowly sipped, looking slightly dazed at an interesting speck of dust on the table.

"You don't have to go to school tomorrow. One day will hardly make a difference and I know..." Kyle trailed off as Alex gave him a hard glare.

"I can't stay off tomorrow. I'm so close to having a normal life again. You wouldn't understand but this is important to me." Alex looked up at him. "Anyway, I think I've take enough sick days to last me a life time." Alex sniffed slightly and wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"I'm not ill." Came the muffled voice before Kyle could ask.

"Alex. You're sick, just had a panic attack and now probably sleep deprived. As a responsible adult, I can't let you go to school tomorrow."

"You can't make me stay here. I could just sneak out. You're at work tomorrow and I've done it plenty of times before."

Kyle narrowed his eyes. This kid was trouble. Most fifteen year old boys would kill for a day off school. Not this one, he just couldn't stay away. With a defeated sigh, Kyle held up his hands.

"Alright, go to school, if you want, but don't blame me if you faint in the corridor. Also, if you sleep in I'm not waking you up."

A grin spread across Alex's face. "Thanks Kyle."

"Yeah, yeah. Now go to bed. 7 am wake up tomorrow."

/AN/

I have never suffered from a panic attack before so I don't know if this is a very accurate representation of one. All I had to work with were other fics and my some youtube videos. So sorry if this was awful.


	3. Not a morning person

/I do not own Alex Rider. Wish I did but I guess you can't have everything in life.../

Paarp! Paarp! Paarp! Crash!

Alex was in a mood. And not a good one. Irritated from having been woken up at 6:30 am, he not so gracefully swung his legs out of his bed and sat there, still half asleep. It took him a moment, whilst he was scanning his room, to remember why he had set his alarm so early. His school bag was stuffed in the corner of his room, his uniform hung on the back of his chair. Slight butterflies fluttered in his stomach. Alex didn't know why he was getting so excited/nervous about going too school. It was just school.

Dragging a hand across his face to try and rub some of the sleep from his eyes, Alex spied his alarm clock, now cracked and on the floor. He hadn't been able to find the snooze button, so instead had resorted to chucking it against the wall in all his sleepy fury in an attempt to shut it up. It worked didn't it?

Alex stood up and grabbed a random towel that happened to be on the floor. He needed a shower and often preferred to have them in the morning. A slight acidic smell hit him as he walked into the bathroom and Alex grimaced as he remembered the events of last night. He quickly turned on the shower, let it warm up for a bit, and five minutes later emerged from the bathroom feeling considerably less grimy.

Kyle was in the corridor as Alex sauntered out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist. He wisely chose not to comment on the alarming white scar on Alex's chest (among the many others).

"So you're definitely going to school then?" Kyle asked, eyebrow raised.

"Yep," Alex was roughly drying his hair with another towel he had found on the bathroom floor, "I feel fine now, and I can't keep bunking off school." Alex finished drying his hair and made his way towards his room. He gave a sarcastic grunt."Sometimes I feel like MI6 are trying to ruin my school life, ya know, so that I have no other option than to work for them. Or some greasy MacDonald's. And you know what? I'd take the MacDonald's job."

Kyle smirked, "you're always so dramatic Alex, you know, not everyone is out to get you."

Alex huffed and muttered "Yeah, only the the dangerous psychopaths, no biggie."

"Alright, alright, now enough bitching about your hardships. Get dressed quick and come eat something. Kyle's bus service leaves in 30 minutes, with or without you."

Alex made a face at Kyle as the latter man made his way downstairs. He quickly slipped into his room and pulled on his uniform. Alex didn't mind his school uniform. It was quite comfortable and could be worse in terms of style. It helped keep some sense of formality and equality between the students. He just felt sorry for the girls who had to wear those pleated skirts, even in the winter. However, they didn't help themselves by rolling them up way past mid thigh even in the worst of the January weather.

Tutting at the sluttiness of some of the girls in his school, Alex grabbed his bag and PE kit and went downstairs to dump them by the front door. He then proceeded into the kitchen where he made some coffee, two pieces of toast (what a nutritious breakfast) and put an apple in his pocket for lunch. Alex didn't particularly love coffee, but he found that it helped to wake him up a bit in in the morning along with helping his pills go down easier.

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Alex realised that he only had about ten minutes left before Kyle tried to leave without him, so he took one last sip of coffee then ran back upstairs to brush his teeth and grab his phone.

Halfway down the stairs again, Alex could hear keys in the door and realised that Kyle was indeed trying to leave without him. Alex jumped the last few steps and skidded round the corner just as Kyle was about to shut the door.

"I was wondering if you were going to show up Alex," Kyle teased. Alex rolled his eyes and glared at him.

"You could have at least given me a warning that you were leaving."

"Yeah, I could have but I've got to keep you on your toes haven't I?" Alex huffed and pushed past Kyle in mock anger.

"The only reason I want a lift is because it's bloody freezing. I would normally take my bike but you were so kind to offer."

"Come on then , bring your stuff and chuck it in the boot." Kyle clicked his car keys and one of the many cars parked along the side of the road flashed at them. Kyle's car was a fairly average sized, dark blue Ford Focus ST. It smelled quite new as Alex got into the passenger seat, but there was a faint smell of something else, lingering.

"Do you smoke?" Alex asked suddenly.

"I used to," Kyle replied,"before I realised that it was indeed slowly killing me. Quitting was hard, but it was worth it." Alex nodded. He hadn't taken Kyle as the sort of guy who smoked, especially so young. But then again, he knew almost nothing about him.

The rest of the car ride was made in comfortable silence and Alex took it as an opportunity to try and learn more about his new house mate without actually interacting.

1- He kept his car clean, there was nothing inside it other than them and a single air freshener hanging from the mirror. Pine scented. (Ew.)

2-Kyle himself was dressed smartly, in a neatly ironed, dark grey suit and blue tie. His lip piercing was gone, he always took it out for work, and he had replaced his tatty leather watch for a flash, silver one.

(So in all, Alex didn't really learn much)

Alex guessed that he 'worked' at some kind of law firm or bank but in all honesty, he didn't really care. If Kyle didn't want to tell him, that was his business. As long as he was able to contact him if anything happened, he was happy.

He was less happy however as the car drew closer to Brooklands. His determination to go back to a normal life was wavering. He'd forgotten just how childish the kids in his school could be whilst in the very adult world of espionage. Memories of the rumors about him being a druggie, abused at home or some sort of criminal flooded back to him, and suddenly Alex was a lot less eager to throw himself back into the world of GCSEs and school. He was glad that at least one person knew his secret, even if that put him in danger, but also hoped that the kids in his classes had grown up enough to not try to create mountains out of molehills.

The Ford gracefully glided in through the school gates.

"You can stop here. I'll get out and walk the rest of the way." Alex was already opening the door of the car.

"Okay then. Oh, and I can't pick you up tonight so you'll have to take the bus or walk."

Alex groaned, "You could have told me that before I left my bike at home!"

Kyle shrugged, "You'll manage, jog or something, but make sure you're back by six. If I don't hear from you I'll come looking." He winked. "Oh and , do try to stay out of trouble."

/AN/

Sorry for the rubbish chapter, I wanted to do a bit of character developing before I start to get too far into the story. Things will start to happen soon. Probably.

Constructive criticism is always welcome!


	4. Back in hell

Alex kept his head low as he pushed his way through the bustling corridors. The school was exactly how he remembered it; cramped, busy, noisy and slightly strange smelling. Alex was just glad that Brooklands didn't have lockers lining the main corridors like they did in every American film. That just seemed so inconvenient and annoying and would make the already narrow hallways one-way tunnels.

Alex made his way to his form room where his locker was situated. He and Tom often hung out there before first registration and Alex hoped that he would be able to find him there now. He was in luck. Upon opening the door, Alex was pleased to see that Tom was there, sitting on a table near the front of the class room, engrossed in a very animated discussion with some guy from their physics class. Alex frowned a bit as he tried to recall his name. Ray?... No…Brain…maybe…

Alex mentally shrugged, the name would come to him later. For now he decided that today was finally the day that he would put this whole past year behind him and start his new 'normal' life. Quietly, he sidled up behind Tom, bent down and whispered in a low voice,

"I have returned."

Tom jumped and spun round to face Alex. His eyes widened, a flicker of concern momentarily passed through them, then a grin plastered itself on his face.

"Alex! You're back?! When did you get back from-Ow…Err, the hospital?" Tom corrected himself as Alex subtly kicked him in the shin. He had told Tom before he left to Cairo that he'd be gone for a while, and Tom knew that that meant Alex was going on a mission. Brian-if that was his name- shot them a quizzical look. Playing along, Alex spent the next few minutes discussing the details of his most recent "illness" and how boring the hospital was.

Deciding that is was time for a change in topic before he asked too many awkward questions, Tom diverted the conversation to what he thought was safer ground.

"So how's Jack lately? I haven't seen her around much." Alex's face instantly darkened. Tom wondered where he'd gone wrong. What could have happened? Awkwardly Alex looked around and scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, well, I guess she's, er, okay. She left a while ago, err, back to America- I have a new house mate now, Kyle. Um, I have to go put my stuff in my locker." Alex quickly got up and made to walk away when Tom caught his arm.

"Tom…" he started. Tom shot him a look that said, 'you're gonna tell me what happened later'.

"Before you get your books, you might find it useful to know that they changed the class timetables when you were away. Here, I got yours for you." Tom handed Alex a slightly dog-eared piece of paper which Alex gratefully took. He silently thanked Tom with a small smile, then wandered off to his locker.

The room had been getting steadily busier as it drew closer to 8:35 and Alex had just crouched down by his locker on the bottom row when his form tutor Miss Millet slammed through the door. Miss Millet was one of the four P.E. teachers in Brooklands and was always **almost** late to everything. Alex liked her, she got his awful puns and almost never picked on him in class- a winning combination.

She sat down and began to take the register. Alex decided to make his presence in the room known so that she didn't just assume he wasn't there and skip his name like she normally would during his long absences. Dramatically, Alex threw open his locker door, making as much noise as he could in the process, then proceeded to shove all of his books inside making sure they clanged loudly on the back of the metal cupboard.

Miss Millet's gaze flickered in his direction.

"Ah, Alex, nice to have you back. Glad to see you're still alive, but please stop making such a racket back there, there are easier ways of letting me know you're here. Like telling me."

Alex smirked, "Sorry Miss," he said, trying to sound sincere.

"Yeah, well you can use all of that energy you seem to have in class today, your class is using the pools and it probably will be as freezing as it sounds."

Alex froze and Miss Millet continued with the register. He scrambled for his new timetable and to his horror, saw that he did indeed have P.E today for his second lesson. Alex swore quietly to himself. The standard kit for swimming lessons was shirtless with some form of swimming trunks and although he was anything but self-conscious about his body, Alex suddenly knew that he couldn't be shirtless on front of his entire class. The very obvious bullet wound scar on his chest would be sure to raise a few questions, not to mention the numerous other scars littering his chest, arms, legs and back. Now that he thought about it, Alex realised that he had collected a horribly large number of mementos from each of his escapades.

Shuffling back to his desk, armed with his French books and P.E bag, Alex's mind was furiously trying to come up with some sort of valid excuse that would get him out of swimming.

'I could just say that it would badly affect my health…no, they'd want to see a doctor's note. Maybe I could suddenly have a coughing fit and they'd just assume that I'm too ill to swim…no, they'd just tell me work harder to make sure I don't get cold…'

His inner conflict continued all through French class and Alex was too distracted to pay attention to anything the teacher was saying. It was at times like this that Alex was happy Ian had 'trained' him from an early age. If he hadn't already been more or less fluent in French, he would have had a detention for not paying attention in the first ten minutes.

It was then that Alex suddenly had what he later called, his 'idiot brainwave'.

He remembered that the back of his painkiller boxes said that the drugs could cause severe drowsiness. Did that mean that if he took enough he would fall asleep? Maybe. Glancing around the class to check that no one was watching, Alex slowly leant back on his chair, opened the window behind him and emptied his water bottle into the bush outside.

A few minutes later he raised his hand. Knowing that it would that it would help his campaign to leave the classroom, Alex asked in French, " _Can I go to the toilet please_?"

His teacher sighed, " _Can't you wait for fifteen minutes_?"

" _It's kind of urgent sir,"_ He held up his bottle and shook it to emphasize the fact that it was empty. Monsieur Duforêt, rolled his eyes, " _Alright, but be quick. If you take more than five minutes I'm sending someone to go and get you."_

Alex thanked him then awkwardly left the classroom.

Meanwhile, the entire class was left slightly confused by the fact that Alex, who hardly ever paid attention in class was suddenly able to have a full on conversation in French with their teacher and had then been allowed to leave. First lesson back and he was already running off.

Tom was slightly confused as well but also slightly suspicious. He had seen Alex empty his bottle out of the window- he had used that trick a number of times to get out of class before as well, but the question was, why?

 **/AN/**

 **I still don't know where I'm going with this and I think I'm just digging a massive plot hole that I'm never going to be able to get out of.**


	5. Not the plan

As soon as he was out of the classroom, Alex briskly walked the rest of the way to the male bathroom which lay right in the middle of the school block, between the labs and the RS buildings. He remembered that the painkillers took about five to ten minutes to kick in, and by that time he would be on his way to the grotty little room the school called the changing rooms.

When Alex arrived at the toilets, he quickly glanced around the large room, checking there was no one else in the room. His footsteps echoed in the empty room and Alex cringed as he felt his shoes sticking slightly to some unknown substance on the floor. He took the two boxes of pills out of his pocket. The important thing now was to make sure he didn't accidentally take too many- _MI6 would not be too pleased if their secret weapon suddenly dropped dead from a drug overdose_ Alex mused darkly.

Doing some calculations in his head that made no sense whatsoever, he decided that four would probably be enough. He slowly popped two pills out from each packet and held them in his palm. Two were longish, white and oval shaped with a small slit down the middle, the other two were greyish, small and round.

He was about to tip them into his mouth when he suddenly caught sight of his reflection in the mirror on the wall. He paused, hand frozen mid-throw.

His hair was long and shaggy and had a dirtier blond colour than it had last year. One or two long scratches marked his half tanned face and large dark circles rimmed his eyes. His clothes were slightly small on him as he'd recently has a small growth spurt and there were holes in his jumper from where he'd ripped thumb holes in them.

All in all he concluded, he looked like shit. Lowering his hand, Alex lent on the sink below the mirror and puffed his cheeks out. Had his life really come to this? Taking drugs to get out of gym class? No. Suddenly gripped with anger, Alex threw the pills in his hand to the floor where they scattered.

"Fuck." Alex cursed, gripping the sides of the sink until his knuckles turned white. Another spurt of anger caused him to turn and aggressively kick the wall before resting his forehead against it, breathing deeply.

"You alright there Alex..?"

Alex spun round to see Tom standing with his head poked round the door. _When did he get here? How come I didn't hear the door?_ Still leaning against the wall, Alex slid down and brought his knees to his chest.

"No." He replied shortly. "Did Sir send you to come find me?" Tom nodded. He was about to extend a hand to help Alex up off the floor whilst making a snarky comment about hygiene when Alex suddenly hung his head.

"Tom. Why am I such a fuck up?" Alex's voice was perfectly calm, he could have been asking Tom to pass the ketchup, but it didn't take an idiot to realise that something was wrong now, so Tom joined his best friend on the floor and awkwardly put his arm around his shoulder.

"Why would you say that Alex? You're a hell of a less of a fuck up than the rest of the kids in this school who, may I mention, have a hard time just getting up in the morning let alone **saving the world numerous times** …Are you just sad that Jack went back to America?"

"Jack's dead."

"What? You said…"

"I lied."

"Alex-wait, when did this happen? Oh my God, I'm so sorry, I didn't realise," Tom's eyes were wide and his hand was covering his mouth in shock, suddenly realising that this was why Alex had been acting so weird earlier and that he'd just made things worse by bringing Jack up again.

Alex's voice was slightly strained as he told Tom, "A few months ago, I was in Cairo, it was a…job, and…things happened. They made me watch as they killed her Tom. There was nothing I could do. And then I…I shot him. He was right in front of me and I had a gun and then I just-I just shot him. I shot another person Tom. I-I mean I've probably killed people indirectly before but I've never actually had the option to either shoot and they die or not shoot and they live. And I fucking shot him."

He had been getting slowly quieter as he spoke and he could feel his heart rate rising as flashbacks threatened to come crashing back. _Get a grip Alex_. He balled his hands into fists and took four slow breaths in an attempt to calm down.

All this time, Tom had listened in silence. He couldn't think of anything to say but felt that even if he could, nothing would be appropriate, so he settled for just sitting there next to Alex, saying nothing but staying with him. Supporting him in silence. He listened to Alex's ragged breathing- the aftermath of storytelling, which slowly became deep and measured, then (more or less) back to normal.

"Thank you Tom." Alex was now looking up from his foetal position against the wall with a tired smile. Tom grinned back in an attempt to lighten the mood.

"What for?"

"For listening. And not saying anything. Most people would try to comfort me or something, say 'She's not really gone as long as you remember her' or 'she's in a better place now' or whatever, but seriously don't need to hear that kind of stuff right now. I just need to know that you're here and safe and I can talk to you because I sure as hell can't talk to Kyle about this. He'd just send me to a shrink or something. Yeah…so thanks." Alex finished his little monologue and Tom gently punched his arm.

"That's fine man. Anyway, isn't that what best friends are for?"

"Yeah, I guess. I don't know what I'd do without you Tom." Alex felt like a massive weight had been removed from his chest as he slid back up the bathroom wall then helped Tom up.

"You'd cry and become a reclusive London hermit." Tom replied. Then the bell rang. Alex could hear chairs scraping and doors slamming open as kids rushed to get out of their classrooms to their next lesson. Which reminded Alex of his original reason for coming here.

"Damn! Err, Tom I need your help. I need to get out of swimming today, it's kind of important." Tom raised a quizzical eyebrow but didn't ask.

"I'm shocked. The Great Alex Rider has to come to his lowly best friend to help him skip class." He thought for a moment then his face lit up. "I'll be back in a sec." Then he ran out the door.

'A sec' turned out to be three minutes, twenty two seconds of awkward hiding in the stalls before Tom came back.

"Alright, don't ask me why I have these, but you know you said that your most recent 'illness' was appendicitis? Well, I have some of those bandage things they stick over surgery wounds. If you say you can't get it wet because of infection or something and show them this, they'll have to let you off." Alex nodded. _Why didn't I think of something like this?_

"Alright, let's stick that thing on then." Alex lifted his shirt a tad and Tom handed him a gauze pad. He was careful not to lift it too far as he motioned towards his lower right stomach, "This is where it goes right?" Tom shrugged unhelpfully.

"Probably."


	6. Oops

**/AN/**

 **I had this chapter in my book for ages but I wasn`t able to upload it until now so...sorry for the wait.**

 **I was typing this up to the sound of Gerard Way apparently being Not Okay and I found it quite fitting for Alex`s current situation.**

 **Anyway, that`s enough of me being uninteresting**

 **/**

The smell of sweat, cheap deodorant and old socks hit Alex full in the face as he and Tom entered the dreaded "Gym Zone". It was strange Alex thought, that just last year he would have been one of the weird kids who lived for PE, but right now, that was not the case. It wasn`t like he was adamant on keeping his spy life a secret for MI6`s sake, and if swimming hadn`t been this term`s sport he definitely wouldn`t have held back. Alex was trying to get back into his normal life again, and that did not mean restricting himself, if fact Alex had been one of the best sportsmen in his year before Ian`s death and he planned on regaining that title.

He grimaced as he caught a whiff of chlorine mixed with something else from the pool. To be honest, everyone hated swimming at Brooklands and that may or may not have been due to the pool being (1) freezing, even in the warmest British weather and (2) constantly covered in a thin layer of some kind of green algae. The caretakers couldn`t figure out what it was so they just left it there to grow. How considerate. Needless to say, it did not make for an enjoyable swim.

The gym corridor was mostly silent and Alex guessed that most of the class had already left the changing rooms. The soft click of a door closing followed by fast footsteps told the pair that Miss Millet was on her way. Tom turned to Alex.

"I`m gonna skidaddle before she sees me, I don`t know why but she doesn`t like me right now." He shrugged then took off in the direction of the changing rooms leaving Alex to confront Miss Millet alone.

"Ah, Alex. I wondered where you and Tom were. Care to explain?" She seemed agitated and Alex faltered slightly under her piercing glare. He wasn`t used to her being angry at him. He scratched the back of his head and proceeded to explain the events that had led to him and Tom being late. Most of what he said was true, but he left out the story of the bathroom meltdown and his reason for going to the toilets in the first place.

Miss Millet looked ready to challenge him; crossed her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg, but then her eyes softened.

"Alright, I`ll let you two off this once, but next time there will be consequences. Clear?"

"Crystal clear Miss." Alex saluted in an attempt to lighten the mood, but that only earned him a strange look from his teacher.

"Go and get changed Alex, I want you out there in five minutes." She turned to walk away but Alex stopped her.

"Oh, about that Miss…I can`t do swimming today." As soon as the words left his mouth the steely glare returned.

"And why not?"

"Well, you know I had my appendix remov-"

"Yes I am well aware of the operation you had _over five weeks ago._ It should be healed enough by now to swim and I have not been informed otherwise." For once Alex was left slightly lost for words. He wracked his brains for a valid rebuttal but none came in time.

"Five minutes or the head will find out about you and Tom skipping class." And before he could respond, she was striding away to check on her increasingly noisy class. Alex`s class was known to be one of the more reckless classes so it was no wonder that Miss Millet had been itching to go and make sure everything was alright.

Alex now had a dilemma. Skip the rest of class or do as his teacher said. It wasn`t a difficult choice to make when he realised that his actions would also get Tom into trouble if he decided to skip. Tom didn`t exactly have a squeaky clean record and was in fact one mishap away from suspension. Alex had no idea what his best friend had got up to during his long absence from school but knowing Tom, it wasn`t good.

Defeated, Alex turned his thoughts to his new problem- getting to the pool unnoticed. He decided that the best course of action would be to simply just run into the room and jump in before anyone could see him properly. The algae would provide cover whilst swimming and then he would just have to bolt out again as soon as the lesson finished. Alex grimaced. So much of his lifestyle depended on luck, even when he wasn`t in the field.

Darting into the boy`s changing room, Alex quickly stripped off his shirt and trousers leaving them near the door so that he could pick them up quickly, then pulled on his standard swimming shorts. He dared a glance at the mirror in the corner of the room and was disheartened by what he saw. The burns across his shoulders from the McCain raining fuel incident still hadn`t healed completely and were an extremely noticeable shade of burnt red. And amid his large collection of various other scars was of course the bullet wound. It looked slightly more irritated than usual today. Alex had often marvelled at how quickly the injury had healed- on the surface at least. However that didn`t mean that he wouldn`t be left with a permanent reminder of his involvement with Scorpia.

Lost in his thoughts for a moment, Alex didn`t notice a small movement behind him.

"What the hell Alex."

His stomach dropped. Instinctively he brought his arm up in an attempt to hide his chest but Tom had already seen.

"Tom!" Alex spluttered, "When did you get here?!"

"I was here the whole time! I was on my phone round the back when I heard you come in. But I must ask again. What the hell Alex." Tom`s voice was angry and if he hadn`t been so short, Alex might almost have been afraid of him.

"Why didn`t you tell me about- "Tom waved his hands in search of the right word, "Those!"

Alex had zoned out He was slightly shell shocked and his mind wasn`t coping well with the sudden reveal of what was more or less a story of his entire career as a spy. Unfortunately his body seemed to translate this to `Danger`. So it was not surprising that when the door creaked open and Miss Millet poked her head round, she found herself in the path of a well-aimed kick.


	7. Consequences

The head of Brooklands liked his office. It was unlike the rest of the musty, unattractive yellow rooms in the school. It boasted large, floor to ceiling, one way windows across one side, with the rest of the walls being a clean white colour. The carpet used to be creamy beige but had recently been replaced by black; too many times had kids walked in with muddy trainers or swept his coffee to the floor in a hormonal rage.

He kept his office clean and tended not to have anything too sharp or heavy inside other than his desk and computer- another precaution against wild children.

Speaking of wild children, Mr Bray began reading the school file on his computer. The child in question was Alexander J Rider who was due to be arriving in a moment to discuss the consequences of his actions earlier that day.

Alexander Johnathan Rider:

\- 15 Years

-Poor attendance since the beginning of this year due to health issues.

-Recently lost Uncle (car crash) and close friend (house fire abroad)

-Consistently good grades until beginning of school year.

Those were the main details Mr Bray were reading over as Mrs Bedfordshire knocked on the door. He called for her to come in and she entered, followed by Alex. 2:30, right on time.

The head motioned towards one of the chairs opposite his desk.

"Take a seat Alex." As the boy at down, Mr Bray noticed how calm he was, even though he was (probably) about to be suspended for attacking Miss Millet. Most students no matter how 'cool' they were, always seemed at least slightly nervous in front of him but Alex didn`t even seem worried.

Mr Bray studied the boy in front of him for a moment; straight back, serious face with one or two scratches on it. His wrists also sported injuries, he saw the bruises when Alex had sat down and his sleeves pulled up. Alex noticed his teacher`s stare and quickly pulled down his too short sleeves.

He had got the injuries in Cairo. Whilst watching Jack die He had thrashed around so much that the ropes tying him to the chair had ripped the skin. Those wounds had been particularly slow to heal as Alex had kept picking at the scabs and re-opening them. Kyle had to force Alex to wear bandages to stop the nervous habit but there was still bruising that Alex found hard to conceal.

He watched as Mr Bray quickly typed something into his computer then clasped his together and looked Alex in the eye.

"I'm assuming you know how much trouble you should be in right now Alex."

"Yes Sir."

"You attacked a teacher with a high level karate move and it is only fortunate for you that there was a door between you and her. According to Tom, the kick was high enough to have reached her neck and if you hadn't hit the door, Miss Millet would have come out with a lot worse that a broken nose."

"Yes Sir."

Mr Bray sighed. He knew Alex was a good kid. He'd seen him in the corridors, on sports days and his records. He'd never caused (much) trouble and had been a great asset to the school's football and athletics teams, so he just wondered- "Why Alex? Why did you kick her?"

Alex had been dreading that question. He didn't know what to say. He could reply with the truth and say he was scared, panicking, but that would open up a whole plethora of new questions he didn't know how to answer. Or he could try to skirt around the question.

"Have you called my guardian?" he asked, trying to sound worried. He wasn't, but he knew that most other kids wouldn't want their parents to know about events like this and as much as he didn't want Kyle to know, he would have to find out sooner or later. The worst part would be if he told MI6 about this (if he was working with them at all) and they decided to try and 'help' him.

"We tried to call him earlier but he wasn't at your house and we don't have his mobile number or email address, so we weren't able to contact him."

"He doesn't have either." That was a lie. In actual fact Kyle did have both an email and mobile but they were both 'work' contacts and he had told Alex not to let the school use them to contact him.

Mr Bray knew what Alex was trying to do. Many students had done it before and he had become quite skilled at recognising question dodging, so he always made sure to go back to the original question.

"Why did you attack Miss Millet Alex?"

Alex mumbled something in response.

"Please speak up Alex, or do I have to lecture you on my feelings on mumbling?"

Alex ground his teeth. "I don't know Sir." He didn't know why he was suddenly so angry but there was something in Mr Bray's condescending voice that had reminded him of so many of the villainous people he had met this year. Especially Mrs Rothman. Alex dug his nails into his hand fighting back the memories he had tried so hard to control. Breathe Alex, he told himself, you've done this before you can do it again.

"I don't know why I did it Sir. I was overreacting and it was extremely stupid. I am very sorry Sir." He hung his head, genuinely ashamed of his actions. He had thought he had more control over himself but that apparently wasn't true.

Mr Bray realised something was off. He didn't know why this hadn't occurred to him before but now he was thinking about it, he knew some things didn't add up. 1) Although this had happened before, (Brooklands had some 'problem children') most students of Alex's intelligence did not just attack teachers out of spite. 2) Alex had supposedly been in hospital for the majority of the year, recovering from one illness or another, however minus the injuries, he seemed in better shape than ever. Not like he had just spent half a year in bed. 3) Each time Alex had come back to school after a long period of time off, he always had a new injury, whether it was just a small scratch or a severe limp.

The teacher made up his mind. He would try to find out what was really happening behind the scenes in this boy's life because it clearly wasn't what he was telling everyone. However right now he had to deal with the current situation of Alex's punishment.

"Alright Alex, I can see from your attendance records that exclusion would definitely not help with your current academic situation, but I can't just let this slide. Instead you will come into school but be in isolation for the rest of the term."

Alex looked up, slightly shocked. "You're not excluding me?"

"No, I try to be reasonable and I can clearly see that you can't afford to miss even more school. Perhaps your grades will even improve without constant distraction in the classroom."

"So I don't have to go to **any** lesson? Not even PE?"

"No, you'll do PE theory instead or something like that."

Alex did a little victory dance inside his head, but was careful not to look even a little bit pleased. This had turned out the best way it could have- he didn't miss school, but swimming was no longer a problem.

Mr Bray noted the almost smile that flickered across Alex's face then continued to speak. "I'm going to write a note for your guardian seeing as we have been unable to contact him- Mr Evant was it?"

"Er, yeah I think so, I'll get him to ring back later." He took the note and got up to leave, "I guess I should thank you for not suspending me…so thankyou Sir."

"That's fine Alex, but where do you think you're going?"

Alex pointed with his thumb over his shoulder towards the door, "To class…"

"Oh, did I forget to mention? Isolation starts today."

 **/AN/**

 **I feel like this story is going at a really slow pace. Should I try to make things actually happen next chapter?**

 **idk**

 **AND who is excited for the new Scorpia graphic novel coming out on the 4th? I can't wait!**


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